Choose Love Movement

Before the Tragedy: Who’s Connecting the Dots? One person notices a troubling change. Another hears a concerning comment. Someone else knows a child is struggling. How do we bring those pieces together—and act while there’s still time to help? In this episode, Scarlett Lewis welcomes Rick Shaw, founder and CEO of Awareity, to explore a question every parent, educator, and community member should b...

A Conversation with Dave Pelzer “I knew Dave’s story was extraordinary. What blew me away was how he chose to live afterward.” — Scarlett Lewis How does a child endure profound abuse and bullying without becoming someone who passes that pain on to others? Scarlett Lewis sits down with Dave Pelzer, bestselling author of A Child Called “It,” for a candid conversation about overcoming painful experie...

Sitting together on their dock in Maine, Scarlett Lewis and her mother, Maureen, explore the power of Heroic Choices and what it means to stop giving our power away to painful experiences. Our brains hold onto painful memories as a way to protect us, but we can choose how we respond to them. Through a Brave Breath, the Choice Moment, and the Choose Love Formula (Courage, Gratitude, Forgiveness, an...

Scarlett’s guest is Choose Love’s Rick Rood who has spent more than 40 years working with children, educators, and youth professionals and he knows that meaningful change starts with the people who show up for young people every day. As an educator, professional development leader, and founder of Transforming Teachers, Transforming Education, Rick has trained thousands of education professionals a...

Scarlett’s guest, Shae Owens, knows that meaningful change in schools doesn’t begin with a program, it begins with a relationship. Shae spent thirty years serving Texas public schools as an elementary teacher and school counselor. During the final seven years of her counseling career, she led the schoolwide implementation of Choose Love for Schools at Hillsboro Elementary, helping bring the Choose...

What if some of the things we're doing to make our schools safer are actually making them less safe? That's the uncomfortable question at the heart of Scarlett Lewis’s conversation with school safety expert Dr. David Riedman, creator of the K–12 School Shooting Database. As the mother of a six-year-old murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Scarlett has spent nearly 14 years thinking ab...

Scarlett Lewis and her mom, Maureen Lewis, sit at the end of a dock in beautiful Maine for a powerful conversation about ‘Doing the Hard Things’ and what it really means to face fear instead of running from it. They explore the power of feeling fear, listening to it, and then choosing to move through it. It’s about triumphing over what holds us back, not only physically, but emotionally. Sometimes...

Scarlett Lewis welcomes Adora Winquist, known as the “Modern Alchemist,” for a fascinating conversation about the connection between our senses, emotions, the nervous system, and healing. Adora shares approaches she has used in her work with military members and their families, including those navigating the challenges of returning home from war and the effects of trauma. Together, Scarlett and Ad...

In this thought-provoking episode, Scarlett Lewis sits down with Andrew Freeman, founder of Coherence Education, an accredited online school for students ages 5–18 that is reimagining education for the AI era. Andrew believes that many traditional schools are still focused on preparing students for jobs and skills that artificial intelligence may soon replace. Instead, he advocates for a revolutio...

Scarlett Lewis’s guest is Gabrielle Diecidue, executive director of the Diecidue Family Foundation and founder of the National Violence Prevention Hotline (888-664-6652). This podcast was recorded on June 10, the anniversary of Gabrielle's best friend, Bella Thallas, being murdered by a man who opened fire over a dispute about a dog. Gabrielle shares how the hotline provides crisis counseling...

Healing Starts Here: Kevin Carolan on Resilience, Prevention & Hope  In this episode, Scarlett sits down with Kevin Carolan, Interim Executive Director of Connecticut Parent Connection in Newtown, Connecticut, for a powerful conversation about turning pain into purpose. Kevin’s connection to this work is deeply personal—his family’s own tragedy inspired his mother, Dorrie Carolan, to found Con...

Scarlett welcomes Dr. Michael Carter, a board-certified physician with more than 35 years of experience across multiple disciplines. As a Functional and Integrative Medicine practitioner, he is one of only 300 experts focusing on identifying and addressing the root causes that interfere with the body’s natural ability to prevent and reverse disease.  Blending natural supplementation, advanced tech...

Scarlett’s guest is Kelli Sallee, a powerful and compassionate speaker who has spent more than a decade working with Drive Sober of Greater Lafayette, helping prevent impaired driving through education and honest conversations with students. Kelli’s work is deeply personal. She shares the story of her best friend, Tiffany “TK” Krammes, who was tragically killed by a drunk driver, an experience tha...

I n this episode, Scarlett speaks with Randy Brown, author of The Inside Story of Columbine: Lies, Coverups, Ballistics, Lessons , whose connection to the Columbine tragedy is deeply personal—his sons were at the school on April 20, 1999, and his family reported Eric Harris to authorities two years before the shooting. Randy shares decades of research and lived experience to challenge widely accep...

Scarlett’s guest is Mark Hulsewe—a filmmaker, speaker, and advocate who is working to change the way we think about bullying, violence, and school safety. Drawing from his own lived experience as a victim of bullying, Mark focuses on proactive, human-centered solutions. He speaks about leadership, empathy, and practical framework like the HERO Protocol, which aims to rewire how schools and communi...

Scarlett’s guest is Jessica Dibb, author of Breathworks and Psychotherapy: Clinical Applications for Healing and Transformation. Scarlett and Jessica discuss the practice of breathing and its importance in the process of choosing love. When we consciously breathe, we can have a physiological experience of feeling love. Jessica offers compelling reasons to integrate the power of breathwork with psy...

A Conversation of Healing In this powerful and heartfelt conversation, Scarlett’s guest is former U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy. They explore the root causes of our nation’s growing crisis of disconnection - and the courageous path toward a safer and more peaceful world. Drawing from his ‘Partner Prescription’, Dr. Murthy calls on Americans to ‘choose love over fear’ and to rebuild lives...

Scarlett’s guest is Dr. Nina Cerfolio, a distinguished psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, researcher, and humanitarian. Dr. Cerfolio has written extensively on the psychological roots of violence, including school shootings, and is recognized for her deep work on trauma, healing, and resilience. Her groundbreaking research offers vital insights into how untreated suffering, alienation, and disconnection...

JoAnn Mitchell is an education reform leader and the Founder & CEO of Mission Achievement and Success (MAS) Charter Schools — an organization whose mission is to prepare underserved students to be successful in college and in life by providing a rigorous college preparatory program in a safe and engaging learning environment. Their results are unprecedented with a 100 percent graduation rate! ...

Scarlett’s guest is James Kimmel, Jr., author of "The Science of Revenge." James has joined Choose Love as one of our newest advisors. His groundbreaking research has uncovered something that could revolutionize how we understand and address conflict in our schools and communities—that revenge operates as a powerful addiction in the human brain, one that most people don't even recognize they have....

Learn why Roman’s program is more effective than the DARE program and how you can bring it to your school and community! Scarlett’s guest is Roman Gabriel, president of the Sold Out Youth Foundation, which has a mission of equipping the next generation for success without drugs and alcohol. Roman shares his background as the son of an NFL quarterback and discusses his journey to become a successfu...

Scarlett’s guest is Jordan Arogeti, CEO and Co-Founder of SupportNow; a free easy to use family support platform that provides clear direction to anyone inclined to offer funds, food, or time and energy. Additionally, they’ve built the largest database of active, sortable medical grants on the Internet. SupportNow has facilitated over $4M in donations for families across all fifty states.  Jordan...

Scarlett’s guest is Dr. Heather Holmes, a forensic psychologist, who conducts psychological evaluations for state and federal courts. Dr. Holmes worked on Nikolas Cruz’ case (The Parkland Shooter) and she evaluated Cruz to provide insight into his mental health, behavior, and background. Cruz murdered fourteen students and three educators on that high school campus on February 14, 2018.  They disc...

Scarlett and David Melville discuss his book, The 5 Things , and its focus on expressing love and personal growth. David shares personal stories about his aunt Isa's late-life transformation and his approach to managing negative thoughts. They explore various concepts including thought control, gratitude, and the importance of choosing love in challenging situations, with David emphasizing the...

Scarlett and Meg discussed Meg's book, Take A Breather, Overachiever: A Guide to Setting Boundaries without Losing Your Mind, which explores boundaries and people-pleasing tendencies, sharing personal experiences and insights about setting healthy limits. Their conversation includes strategies for managing difficult situations and maintaining boundaries, including Meg's offer of her book a...